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The Newseum is an actual brick and mortar museum located in Washington, D.C. Its website contains an eye-opening feature called "Today's Front Pages," which publishes front pages from newspapers around the world (see link on the right sidebar). Excellent source for teaching Media Literacy by demonstrating how differences in societies and cultures frame news stories differently. Especially fitting for journalism and social studies classes. Varies from many of my chosen sites because it displays current primary sources.

This site is joint venture between the U.S. Institute of Museum & Library Services, the Wisconsin Historical Society, and National History Day. The site offers thousands of pages detailed eyewitness accounts from a number of different groups of people. The documents record the first encounters of the Native Americans and those coming into contact with them for the first time.

On a note of local interest for all OPS teachers, the Media Technology Center Library and the Joslyn Art Museum have worked together to provide classroom access to these historical, informational traveling exhibits. From Douglas County History to Native American History, call 557-2500 and have the trunks delivered to your classrooms to use for two full weeks. I work in this department one day a week -- and was totally thrilled to be introduced to these marvelous sets of get-your-hands-on primary sources. They can be used in primary grades through high school.

The largest maritime museum in North America. The website provides valuable information on seafaring and oceanic voyages. The online image collection features over 2,000 images for personal or commercial use. Use this site as a primary resource for the study of explorers in Social Studies. Several biographies are given for explorers like John Cabot, Vasco Balboa, Magellan, and Amerigo Vespucci.

Next time you are in Chicago, go to the Oriental Museum at the University of Chicago - incredible! But until then, check out their website for images of artifacts, maps, video interviews with archaeologists, and lesson plans.

The Harry S. Truman Library website has a plethora of primary sources in audio, video and government documents. The videos alone contain 500 films from 1934 to 1984, Many feature Truman in some way. Their online documents are organized by important topics. For instance, there is a collection of primary source/govt docs relating to the atomic bombings in Japan. One is even a letter from Einstein to Truman. These documents would be very useful in connection with the 8th grade Nebraska social studies curriculum, where they discuss WWII. The collection on Japanese Americans in WWII would also be great for the high school American History courses.

Attractive web design with simulations of satellites stations. Good job of explaining reconnaissance and satellites. Includes audio with separate buttons for elementary and secondary students. Recommended for grades 3 - 8. Provides links with extensive resources for parents and teachers.

This site is exciting! Using satalite images, the site creates books on different topics, including games, simulations, the use of satellites, the solar system and more. The main page provides links for K-5, 6-12, parents, and teachers. The teacher link includes lesson plans, a link to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, plus many more additional links.

What a great site to visit on President's Day. This site allows you to take a virtual tour of Presidential Libraries. Students will enjoy this unique opportunity to learn about the lives of our US Presidents and the important impacts they had on our country while serving in office.

This interesting site provides photographs, letters, newspaper articles, quotes, and famous speeches all related to the life of Gandhi. While the text is probably best suited to middle and high school students, younger students could use other parts of the site to learn about Gandhi for biography projects or studies of passive resistance.

The Smithsonian has webpages for students, families, and teachers. The student site has primary sources in the format of pictures and video footage. They are called IdeaLabs on this site. The IdealLab I found interesting was the Walk on the Moon. It included a video footage from the Apollo landing on the moon and President Kennedy's address to the nation.

This website organizes some of the Smithsonian Institution's vast resources into four topics for students to explore: art, science, history and people/places. There are incredible virtual tours, online interactive labs, games and activities. The site has an educator's section with lesson plans and a search feature to find resources by keyword, grade, and subject.

Explore art, science, history, and people like never before. If you teach the solar system, plate tectonics, volcanoes, or rocks and minerals the Dynamic Earth site is for you. I was so impressed being able to go online and zoom in on hundreds of different rocks, minerals, and gems. Fascinating!

Hundreds of free activities and lesson plans for educators in the areas of social studies and geography. Also includes printable maps of nearly every continent and country. The interactive museum allows students to take geography journeys to mountain ranges, archaeological digs, outer space, and other animations.

A richly interactive site where visitors can design and create varied genres of art. A virtual tour through the NGA has an accompanying guide in 5 languages. Extensive information on artists from all eras. Lots of activities at the teacher's site. A good instructional site. Grades 3-12.

This art site allows children to explore American Folk art, landscapes, abstract art, still life, and digital photography. Children are able to manipulate art to create their own pieces. Students can also create a tropical jungle. There are additional online resources for teachers, as well as a link to exhibits from the National Art Gallery.

This page contains several art activities for children, including interactive art programs that allow students to create portraits or still life pictures. There is a link that allows students to search for specific artists or works. This site would be a good resource for art teachers, but English teachers could also use it to find different works of art that appeal to kids and could be used for descriptive writing assignments.